June 27, 2016

We are so excited to welcome the first half of our Ambassadors today: Andrew Roberts, Clare Charvill, and Jim, the Gentleman Crafter! This blog is jam-packed with great ideas and projects by these incredible artists, so we'll let them take over the blog today. Enjoy these awesome ideas! First, we introduce the amazing Andrew Roberts (who spoils us with tutorials!) to our Ambassadors:

"My name is Andrew Roberts, I live in Tasmainia, Australia. I am married and have 4 daughters and three sons. I am a registered nurse working in operating theatres. I have been artistic for a lot of my life. I have turned my hand at many different skills including watercolour wildlife drawing, mohair teddy bear making and found my niche in the paper crafting world. I have been scrapbooking and paper crafting for approximately 14 years. To be a Graphic 45 Ambassador has been a paper craft goal of mine since the introduction of the program. I love all things graphic 45 and have a serious addiction to their wonderful products. They are very versatile and have a fabulous colour palette. I am expanding my skills continuously and involvement within the industry here in australia and I look forward to sharing my love of graphic 45 over the coming year. I love to share my joy of Graphic 45 products on social media so hope to see you around. Please have a look at my blog down under crafter."

"How many crafters have a multitude of photos on the computer. I have a box with lots of printed ones as well. I found a collection of photos of my son jacob and I wanted a display where I could change the picture from time to time. So made a slide frame and mounted the photos in pairs and of course there had to be a box on there somewhere. I also decided to try the same project with a few spare wedding photos. I really love the way every Graphic 45 collection can be used for my projects even if am replicating the same design.

Tip: Layer fussy cut images from the Graphic 45 papers vertically to create dimension and depth. Ensure there is a slight overlap to create uniformity of the images.

"When I first received my enchanted forest papers in the post I was drawn to the shield images and I thought what great shape for a constructed project. Combining this with my love of box projects, the enchanted forest shield was born. I hid a little mini album inside that I filled with pictures of my youngest son Benjamin.

Tip #1 Do you enjoy altered art or constructed projects. Graphic 45 matchbook boxes make great platforms to for these type of projects.

Tip #2 When matting you mini album pages with your favorite Graphic 45 papers try only adhering the edges and create a pocket to fit a graphic 45 artist trading tag.

"We often scrap or craft many projects and albums that showcase family and friends. But it’s fun sometimes to take the challenge and make a project that requires us to look at ourselves. I kept this project simple. I love the clean lines and hoped it would inspire new crafters. There is two snapguides associated with this project. I am going to use this to keep a diary style record of the words and thoughts that describe my style.

Tip: Have you thought of making a mini album as tribute to your design style. A keepsake that represents part of or the continuation of your creative journey."

"I‘m a self-confessed craftaholic and live in the centre of the UK with my two fabulous boys.

I’ve crafted with different mediums all my life, and found a new interest in paper-crafting back in 2011. After a lot of searching I came across a vintage style of papers that inspired me and made my first projects. Curtain Call, Le Cirque and Communique (the first time round) got me totally hooked on Graphic 45 and I’ve been inspired by and crafting with their fabulous products ever since. I started blogging and sharing my projects with likeminded crafters in mid 2011, joined the G5 DT in 2012 and have had the pleasure of representing this prestigious paper crafting brand at workshops and retreats across the UK and on UK Craft TV ever since. I’m really looking forward to being part of this fabulous family and hugely talented team again this year and sharing my creativity with you all ☺ ~Clare"

"I’m really excited to have been invited to continue as an Ambassador for Graphic 45. I’m a total addict and inspiration for my projects always comes from their stunning paper collections. Thank you Diane, Charee and Aimee.

As crafters we spend lots of time crafting projects for others so I decided to create one that you could make and keep for yourself and chose the timeless ‘A Ladies Diary’ collection to alter it in.

Part of the brief was to include a photo of ourselves in our project, mine sits in the frame on the lid of the box surrounded by fussy cut flowers and stickers from the collection.

I chose pink and brown as the main colours for the project and paper pieces the gorgeous clock border into the papers on the base of the box. I paper pieced the spotty paper and borders together for the box sides , added the large sticker mounted on foam pads to the box front and the new mini door plate and keys in the antique finish to the lid for a really vintage look.

We all keep oodles of digital photo’s but it’s always nice to keep a few originals that have special memories attached to them. To store mine I made a photo box with photo wallets for pictures and added a Japanese Stab Bound scrap book and a really fun diary with a shaker front to journal in. Have fun following along with me a make one yourself. Follow the link below to the tutorial and make one yourself." ~Clare

"Full of Southern charm, Jim Hankins is truly a Gentleman Crafter! Known for creating 3-D projects and his use of innovative mixed media techniques, Jim loves to combine the two to make unique functional art.

An avid blogger, YouTube instructor and educator, Jim travels the country monthly teaching classes in person and online reaching out to fellow crafters who share his love of techniques and construction.

Jim’s Motto: If I can make it you can make it…when you can build a box you can make anything!"

We have an awesome new contest this week with Cityscapes and G45 Staples including our Metal Brads and Square Tag Album! All you have to do to enter this contest is comment here on the blog or on our Facebook page. We will announce a winner on Friday - so enter this great giveaway this week!

A huge welcome to these incredible Ambassadors! 2016 is going to be such a great year! Help us say hello in the comments below. Thanks for joining us today, G45ers! Have a great Monday!